XII

Torch Song

Your presence brings light,
flickering, inconstant,
against which my shadow halts
unedged.
Fragments from long-exploded stars
meet in an act
which like words
has no boundary.
My atoms
your atoms
kiss
our surfaces seething cauldrons
of interchanging particles.
Only electricity prevents your lips
from going straight through me.
My body
my mouth
retain each impression
here
alight in your presence.
Selah.